Week One
My first week and BDFI has come and gone. What a week!
Every day we cover a different subject with a different professor. I like that structure because it really lets you focus on each element of the filmmaking process.
Mondays was Directing/Producing with Patrick, which was the first day of class so we spent most of the time getting to know each other and previewing the rest of the semester.
On Tuesday we had Cinematography with Alan. He introduced us to the HD Panasonic camera we will be using. Instead of starting off with MiniDV tapes we are jumping straight into P2 cards, which is exciting for me because I have never used P2 cards before. We discussed things such as focal length and distance. Alan said that in terms of cinematography, the story is really told through the lens.
We went over the different tasks and hierarchy of roles involved in cinematography, such as the DP, the AC, the gaffer and what they are all in charge of. We also learned about the meaning of 3CCD and interlaced video versus progressive video. We were also introduced to white balance, and how to transfer footage from the P2 cards into Final Cut Pro.
In the afternoon a bunch of us took one of the cameras and went out to practice using it. We shot a simple scenario in a strip of land that runs underneath the Bart station. It was good to practice using the camera and was also nice to bond with some of my classmates. We had a scary situation where a giant dog was barking from behind a fence where we were shooting and he got out somehow. We had to run away, so that was the end of our shooting experiment. After that we went back to school, loaded the footage into the computer and cut together the short scene.
On Wednesday we had screenwriting with Fred. I am really excited for this class because I feel that screenwriting is probably my weakest asset. Some of us pitched our ideas for the first assignment, including myself, and the other students and Fred gave their feedback.
On Thursday we had editing with Sharif. He seems like a really great teacher,
Friday was acting with Melissa. She told us about the importance of learning to work with actors and how to treat them and we did some improv exercises. She taught us about “The Method”, a popular acting method. She told us that actors need to feel safe and respected, but that at the same time the director also needs to be authoritative.
I think this will also be a valuable class. The afternoons are reserved for lab time, to work on whatever project you are working on. Since we are still in the beginning, we don’t have a whole lot to do, but many of us have been utilizing the time to familiarize ourselves with the available equipment and practice whatever we can.
Overall, it was a good first week, and I am looking forward to learning more and getting started on my film!
